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1Mark22
When I read the stuff offered in YA sections of bookstores and public libraries, I force myself to channel parental disgust into my novel writing. At least with YA Jewish fiction, the religious component offers the author an available detour from sexual encounters, drugs and gratuitous smut. Really, is this what we want our kids checking out from the YA shelves? Anyone else feel the same way about mass-market YA?
2amysisson
YA is an incredibly diverse field, and there is actually no such thing as "mass-market YA". The term "mass market" actually refers to the inexpensive paperback form of books -- often a book is published first in hardcover, then a year later in "mass market paperback" (the smaller size PBs) or "trade paper" (the larger paperbacks).
I *think* what you mean by "mass-market YA" is YA fiction from the major publishers that we most often see in bookstores and libraries. I review YA fiction for VOYA, and I can assure you, there is a whole lot more in those books than "sexual encounters, drugs and gratuitous smut."
As a recent example, there's a book titled The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which is an example of a moving, touching, YA novel about young people with cancer. What little there is about sexuality in the book is definitely not gratuitous.
I *think* what you mean by "mass-market YA" is YA fiction from the major publishers that we most often see in bookstores and libraries. I review YA fiction for VOYA, and I can assure you, there is a whole lot more in those books than "sexual encounters, drugs and gratuitous smut."
As a recent example, there's a book titled The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which is an example of a moving, touching, YA novel about young people with cancer. What little there is about sexuality in the book is definitely not gratuitous.
